Have CC Sabathia finish the season as impressively as he has started it? That would be quite meaningful, given that he’d be vesting his $25 million option for 2017.

See Alex Rodriguez reach the 700-home run milestone already? Anything that stirs up finger-wagging moralists is a plus.

Yet, as the Yankees kick off their spiritual second half Friday night, with the rival Red Sox coming to Yankee Stadium, there’s little doubt what their top priority should and must be from now until the final out: They need to get a firmer grip on their young starting pitching. On what they have and what they need going forward.

The Yankees’ disappointing 44-44 first-half showing, which actually masks a negative run differential of 371-405, can be whittled down to two essential areas of massive underperformance: 1) Their old hitters (A-Rod and Mark Teixeira) and 2) Their young pitchers (Nathan Eovaldi, Michael Pineda and Luis Severino). The last of those carries the greatest long-term consequences.

While Eovaldi (26) and Pineda (27) remain young, neither is inexperienced. Both can enter free agency after next year. Hence the urgency to solve these two enigmas before calls must be made on trades, qualifying offers and the like.

Pineda pitched better enough recently, compiling a 3.43 ERA and 54-11 strikeout-walk ratio over his last seven starts, to get the first start out of the gate Friday. His ERA for the season is a still an awful 5.38.

“I think at the end the struggles [the first two months] could be a good thing for him,” Yankees pitching coach Larry Rothschild said last week. “I think he’s had to learn from that. Actually learn how to pitch a little bit more. Because when his ball [the slider] was moving the way it was, he got away with a lot.

Michael PinedaPaul J. Bereswill

“… It’s kind of survival of the fittest. He’s had to figure certain things out.”

The development of the changeup, which is not much of a weapon right now, will be crucial to that, Rothschild added.

Like the “Seinfeld” episode when Elaine’s life turns south just as George’s improves dramatically, Rothschild stood as Even Steven when Eovaldi’s season plummeted just as Pineda recovered. Eovaldi pitched his way out of the rotation and picked up the victory in relief over the Indians on Sunday with 4 ¹/₃ shutout innings. You’d think the Yankees would put him back in the rotation, though manager Joe Girardi guaranteed nothing.

“I think the split was a new pitch last year [for Eovaldi]. No one had seen it,” Rothschild said. “They’ve seen it a little bit this year and laid off it a little bit more, and so there are adjustments that need to be made there.”

Specifically, Rothschild said, when it comes to patterns and sequencing.

Severino’s case is different. At just 22, with less than a year of big-league service time, he has been at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barres since tallying a ghastly 7.46 ERA in seven major league starts this season. Even a 3.18 ERA in eight starts for Scranton hasn’t excited the Yankees much.

“I think the Triple-A league is not the league it used to be,” Rothschild said. “But also, power is going to play there. Not being seen much by those hitters, there’s been improvement, but he’s got a little ways right now.”

Rothschild also wants to see more of Chad Green, the 25-year-old who showed the ability to miss bats in three major league starts. Acquired from the Tigers last December in the Justin Wilson trade, he, too, could be a piece moving forward.

The Yankees’ hesitance to sell off Carlos Beltran and Aroldis Chapman this month notwithstanding, they have displayed the ability to think big picture. They largely ignored the last two free-agent markets and focused on getting younger and more athletic, with results great (Didi Gregorius), awful (Aaron Hicks) and mixed (Starlin Castro). The macro comes into play now again with the young arms.

It was an eventful first half for the Yankees, The Post remarked to Rothschild, who smiled and responded, “Too eventful.” The franchise can afford to miss the drama of a pennant race. It can’t afford too much more drama with its young arms.